For some reason I got a bug up my ass (is that the right term?) to be busy all day. I made homemade strawberry jam, pizza dough, and snickerdoodle blondies. Everything turned out pretty good I must say. And while I was cooking my always busy husband finally took a day to relax. It is usually the opposite, but today was his day.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. Pretty easy, a little time consuming, but worth it and rewarding.
Recipe: Homemade White Pizza
Ingredients:
Dough
* 1/2 cup warm water
* 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (1 packet)
* 4 cups flour
* 1 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 1/4 cup water, at room temperature
* 2 Tbsp. olive oil
Sauce
* Tbsp butter
* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 ounces cream cheese
* 1/3 cup sour cream
* 1/4 tsp salt
Toppings
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 small onions, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 large handfuls spinach
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions:
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend. Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as the olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.
Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. (If freezing the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at this point.) Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.
About an hour and a half before you plan to eat, thinly slice three small (or 2 medium/large) yellow onions. Saute the onions in a skillet over medium-low heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 45 minutes, stirring the mixture every 2-3 minutes. The end result should be deep golden brown, soft, sweet onions.
While the onions are cooking, slice the mushrooms. Take the caramelized onions out of the skillet and add the mushrooms, along with a pinch of salt and pepper and the dried thyme. There should be some residual oil in the skillet to cook the mushrooms, if not add a tad more. Cook the mushrooms until all of the moisture has evaporated away (about 10 minutes over medium heat).
While the mushrooms are cooking, prepare the cream sauce. Mince a clove of garlic and add it to a pot with 1 tablespoon of butter. Saute over medium heat until softened (about 2 minutes). Next, add the cream cheese, sour cream, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Heat and whisk this mixture until a smooth sauce forms (about 5 minutes).
Once mushrooms are cooked remove from pan and add spinach to pan. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until lightly wilted. Remove from heat.
Adjust the rack in your oven to its highest position and begin to preheat to 500 degrees. The dough at this point should be at least double in volume. Sprinkle it generously with flour and then scrape it out of the bowl and onto a floured surface. Pat the dough down into a circle about ten inches in diameter. Transfer the dough to a large pizza stone and stretch/press it the rest of the way out to the edges of the stone.
Spread the sauce over the surface of the dough with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, and spinach over top. Finally, add the shredded mozzarella. Bake the pizza in the fully preheated 500 degree oven for 8-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. About 2 minutes before the pizza is done sprinkle with pine nuts.
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